Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Physical Fitness Update #2

I bet some of you may have been thinking that my lack of updates on my latest adventures in physical fitness meant that I had quit. But believe it or not, I will hit the one month mark this Friday of sticking to a rigorous gym routine!

With only one exception, I've been seeing my trainer 3 times per week to lift weights AND hitting the gym twice on my own to do my assigned cardio. I even followed my trainer's instructions while out of town 2 weeks ago - which is not the first time I've packed my gym clothes for a vacation, but it IS the first time I've brought them home stinky. I also worked out TWICE over the Thanksgiving weekend in Bellingham; doing weird cardio in my parents' basement that mostly entailed me flailing around in an attempt to do burpees (which by the way, are the worst thing ever invented) because that was the only thing Trainer Mike (which is how he's listed in my cell phone BTDubs) could think of that required no equipment and didn't include running (which I hate and am terrible at). Before suggesting burps, he asked (very seriously) if I owned a jump rope. My reply, "Do I look like the kind of person who owns a jump rope?"

Another time, I paid a drop-in fee at the Bellingham YMCA to lift free weights with sweaty hippies. Even more impressive is that when I went to pay this drop in fee, they told me they didn't take credit cards, and instead of using this as my excuse to not workout, I actually walked the block to the free ATM. This may not seem like much, but I am a natural quitter when it comes to working out, so in the words of corporate douchery, I'm "celebrating my successes". And yes, I realize this all a little braggy, but you guys! This is nothing short of remarkable for me. I FEEL braggy.

Probably the most important thing I've done in this process is get over a minor set-back this Monday. My trainer wanted to weigh and re-measure me at the start of the month and the results were sort of a mixed bag. I started to look at every measurement and got hung up on the numbers and what they all meant. Afterwards, I had sort of a sloppy workout with quaky arms and a quitter's attitude. It was the first time I'd left a training session feeling worse then I'd come in. During the drive home I had to really remind myself of why I'm doing this and LET GO of all the "results". Before I stepped on that scale and had a tape measure wrapped around my thigh, I'd been feeling good. And STRONG. I have more energy, I'm sleeping better and I feel like I'm challenging myself physically in a way that I haven't since maybe high school ballet rehearsals.

Some people aren't 'gym people' and I totally respect that. Personally, I've always fallen somewhere in the middle - not really at home doing outdoor activities like biking and hiking, but also not super confident in the gym. I could fake it on the cardio machines and do some stretches on a mat, but that's about where it ended. This last month has helped me to feel like I belong at the gym. I take care not to workout in front of the mirror, so as not to get hung up on how I look while exercising and when I'm not thinking about how red and sweaty my face is, I have time to think about how badass I am for understanding how the machines work, or for being able to walk up to the wall of weights and grab the 17 pounders and be all, "Ho hum, I think I'll use these for my 'Renegade Rows' today" like it's no biggy. Because, I'm totally doing exercises called 'goblet squats' and 'renegade rows' and I'm using Kettlebells and Bosu Balls like a BOSS.